1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to umbrellas and, in particular, to a bio-degradable disposable umbrellas.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Umbrellas have long been known and numerous umbrella mechanisms exists for opening and closing or collapsing umbrellas. Umbrellas can typically be broken down into two main categories. The first is a group of relatively permanent or long lasting umbrellas and the second are disposable umbrellas. The traditional umbrellas of the permanent or long lasting type tend to be made with better and stronger materials, possibly more decorative and, for these reasons, are relatively expensive. The disposable umbrellas are generally relative inexpensive so that if such an umbrella is damaged and needs to be discarded the loss is relatively small.
It seems that you never have an umbrella when you need it, and this has led to numerous disposable umbrella designs that are not as complex or expensive as the more traditional umbrellas and are typically expected to fail after one or several uses. Examples of disposable umbrellas are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,286,528; 6,234,185; 5,964,234; 5,069,237; 4,821,756; 4,819,679; 4,370,993; 4,215,711; 4,542,757; and 3,889,700. All of these umbrellas, while different in design, all tend to be relatively inexpensive this making them “disposable”. However, the proliferation of such disposable umbrellas has created a problem for the environment. Thus, many of these umbrellas include materials that are not bio-degradable, such as fiber glass stems or staffs, nylon canopies, various metallic parts, including metallic struts or ribs and spring actuated latches for maintaining the umbrellas in the opened condition. When such “disposable” umbrellas are discarded many of these parts continue to exist and thus present a long range problem for the environment.
While some umbrellas have been used, particularly in the Far East, which are made of bamboo materials and rice paper for a canopy, such umbrellas are primarily used as parasols to protect the user from the suns rays and are not suitable for inclement rainy weather conditions.